Art Of Darkness | Brewery Ommegang

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Let us now acknowledge the dark arts of brewing. Our limited edition Art of Darkness Ale is deep, dark and magical, with champagne-like carbonation and rich matiness from a complex recipe of multiple barley and wheat malts, as well as flaked oats.

Using no spices or flavorings, Art of Darkness gains all its rich aromas, tastes, and apparent spiciness from the malts and Ommegang's proprietary house yeast.

There are no secret ingredients or magical incantation. There is only Ommegang brewers' creating the finest quality dark, strong ale of complex and deep character.

Art of Darkness is a fine ale to enjoy immediately, and is excellent to cellar.

4.0 A: Black color. Almost two fingers of frothy tan colored head. Retention is good and a short ring of lacing is left.

3.5 S: Lots of roastiness in this. Molasses, light ashiness, and dark caramel. Even the fruitiness comes off with a bit of extra darkness, like stir-fried or grilled plums, dates, black currants and figs. Clove-y phenols from the yeast.

2.5 T: Taste is a bit of the let down. The roasty flavors in the nose dominate the taste and it doesn't work. From first taste to finish, this is overly charred and has an almost tannic finish. It's not a horrible taste, but it's bad enough to put this below average. Much of the fruitiness gets lost to the roast, but the fig and dates are still pretty apparent. Less clove-y than it smells.

Pitch black appearance, even when held up to light. 1 finger of beige head.

Aroma is not significant. Most notable is the belgian-like yeast. Faint cocao and a hint of cherry.

Rather than distinct flavors, this is really a blend of flavors that are hard to pin down. Some christmas spices sit over dark grains, with a hint of chococlate, leather, and tobacco, and brown sugar... But you really have to search hard for those flavors.

Medium body. Not as belgian-like in the mouthfeel. Almost more brown ale-like.

Overall a decent beer, but it's a bit too non descript, without much character. I've come to expect more from Ommegang.

750ml brown glass bottle with hood-and-wire cap over a cork served into me Guinness goblet in me gaff in low altitude Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are high given the brewery - with which I've been fairly impressed so far.

Served refrigerator cold and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured slowly per the label's instructions.

A: Pours a 2 finger head of slight tan hue, good cream, good thickness, and great retention for the high ABV. Colour is a predictable solid black. No yeast particles are visible, likely due to its nontransparency. No bubble show. Opaque. A healthy appearance that encourages me to try it.

T: Slight cream on the open gives way to the dark malt body with smooth rolled oats, out-of-place wheat, light chocolate malt, and vague slight hints of roasted barley - though nowhere near enough. Interestingly built. The wheat in particular sticks out, negatively impacting the balance. Except for that, the balance is nice. The beer isn't as complex as I'd expect from Ommegang, but I'd hardly call it simple. Some subtlety is apparent, but it's not impressive. Some layering is going on. I don't detect any hops. The yeast is also surprisingly restrained, but I'll keep tabs on it as I approach the bottom of the bottle.

Mf: Smooth and wet, but surprisingly sparse in terms of cream. It could use far more; the creamy quality that is there is nice. Good thickness and carbonation. Suits the flavours nicely.

Dr: Drinkable but not Ommegang's best beer. I have nothing against it, but for the price it's something of a disappointment. It's not yeast enough for the style, and wheat malt was just a poor addition outright. I do like it, but I wouldn't have it again or recommend it to friends. Probably best only for hardcore Ommegang fanatics. To its credit, it hides its ABV quite well. I don't know that I really look forward to consuming the whole bottle meself, but c'est la vie.